COA center stays busy as emergency shelter in storm's aftermath

Wednesday

Feb 13, 2013 at 12:21 PM

By JASON PROTAMI

By JASON PROTAMI

Special Writer

DARTMOUTH — Like all town offices, the Dartmouth Council on aging closed early last Friday afternoon in anticipation of the coming storm. As COA staffers went home to their families, Dartmouth Emergency Management began to prepare the building located on Dartmouth Street for its alternate purpose — serving as the town's emergency shelter.

The town struggled to get things back to normal on Monday, digging out and clearing roads. Due to road conditions, Dartmouth Public Schools remained closed on Monday, but normal operations were expected to resume on Tuesday.

The emergency shelter at the COA opened at 4 p.m. on Friday evening and remains open for residents in need. Governor Deval Patrick mandated that all emergency shelters be opened throughout the Commonwealth by Saturday morning, but Dartmouth officials wanted to stay one step ahead of the storm.

The concern was for people without power, especially for those who live in senior housing without emergency back-up generators. Once the electricity went out, and heating systems would not work, dropping temperatures and the storm's severity increased the potential for the loss of life.

Fortunately, none of that came to pass in Dartmouth. The all-volunteer staff manning the emergency shelter had a quiet night Friday, but it was the veritable calm before the storm.

On Saturday morning, temporarily displaced residents began to arrive at the shelter; only a handful at first, but by lunch time, shelter workers had seen about 20 people come through the doors. All had lost power and heat, and many had also lost their home phone service.

When supper was served, around 6 p.m., more than 30 individuals were at the shelter; some elderly, others single parents with small children, were able to take advantage of the services offered. As night fell and temperatures continued to drop, 70% of the town was without power.

About 50 residents, some who had been without electric and heat in their homes for 24 hours already, decided to call the temporary shelter on Dartmouth Stree home on Saturday night.

Most of the displaced weren't able to get to the shelter on their own. Lu-Ann Veira of Smith Neck Road was one of the many with a car buried by the recent snowfall. She called the Police Department for a ride to the shelter.

"My car looked like a big Twinkie," she said. She and others swapped tales of their arrival as they sat in common room of the shelter.

With so many people to transport and without the proper vehicles to do so, the Police Department had to call into service a rarely-used big, red hybrid truck/ambulance. This type of vehicle is often used in the mountain rescue services than in coastal New England.

Some people had trouble getting into the vehicle. They had to climb in the back, through double doors were, but the three-foot high bumper and lack of grab bars made this a daunting task for everyone, especially the elderly.

Retired teacher Peter Hindle's story was similar to many others. The Rockland Farm Road said, "The snow was knee deep when they came to get me. My steps weren't shoveled, so the police had to clear a path with their feet just so I could get down the steps into the front yard."

Arm in arm, two officers helped the elderly gentleman into the rescue vehicle and brought him to where it was warm and hot food could be had.

Credit has to be given to the volunteer staff who manned the shelter over the weekend. Director of Dartmouth Emergency Management Edward Pimental spent more than 48 hours on-site before getting home to check on his family. Luis Lopes, another DEMA volunteer also pulled a two-day shift that weekend.

"It's what we do," the bearded man said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Volunteers from the Community Emergency Response Team worked in shifts, manning the phones, a crucial task at the time. Some calls came from people who needed rides to the shelter, others from out-of-town relatives trying to check on parents. Some just wanted assurance that the shelter would be open to them if needed.

For a variety of reasons, the phone rang late into the night Saturday.

Dartmouth High School junior Emily Decelles, the primary care-giver for her ill mother, brought her to the shelter Friday evening after losing power and heat at their home. They stayed until their electric was restored late Saturday afternoon.

"I think it's great have a shelter like this, especially for people with children," she said. Upbeat at a time when many reflected on their own miseries, she spent her time at the shelter re-learning the rules of Yatzee with new-found shelter friends.

She had also called police for a ride to the shelter. "It caused quite a stir in the neighborhood," she said, referring to their trek out the front door and across the yard through the knee-deep snow and into the big red truck.

As Sunday night approached, there were still about 20 people at the shelter. They spent much of their time calling neighbors to see if power had been restored to their part of town. By Sunday some of the town's electricity had been restored, but approximately 30% of the town was still without power.

As the sun fell and temperatures began to fall once again, the temporarily displaced faced another night at the shelter.